Hirakata, Osaka
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260px, Hirakata Park is a
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in northeastern
Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. , the city had an estimated
population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
of 397,681 in 183075 households and a
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
of 6100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .


Geography

Hirakata is located in the northeast of Osaka Prefecture, almost halfway between the metropolis of Osaka and Kyoto. It is on the left bank of the Yodogawa River, and forms a triangle of and north–south. It is bordered by the Ikoma Mountains to the east.


Neighboring municipalities

Kyoto Prefecture * Kyōtanabe * Yawata Nara Prefecture * Ikoma Osaka Prefecture * Katano * Neyagawa * Shimamoto * Takatsuki


Climate

Hirakata has a
Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hirakata is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .


Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hirakata rose rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, and less rapidly since. Eriko Aoki, author of "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools," stated that the city's location in proximity to both Osaka City and
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
contributed to its population growth of ten times its previous size from around 1973 to 2013.Aoki, Eriko. "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools" (Chapter 8). In: Ryang, Sonia. '' Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin'' (Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations).
Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, October 8, 2013. , 9781136353055. Start: p
157
CITED: p
169170


Ethnic Koreans

As of 2013 the city has about 2,000 ethnic Koreans. Most Hirakata Koreans,Aoki, Eriko. "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools" (Chapter 8). In: Ryang, Sonia. ''Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin'' (Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations).
Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, October 8, 2013. , 9781136353055. Start: p
157
CITED: p
170
including children of school age, use Japanese names.Aoki, Eriko. "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools" (Chapter 8). In: Ryang, Sonia. ''Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin'' (Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations).
Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, October 8, 2013. , 9781136353055. Start: p
171
Many Koreans in Hirakata operate their own businesses. Hirakata has the "mother's society" or "Omoni no Kai", a voluntary association of ethnic Korean mothers. It also has branches of the Chongryon and Mindan, Japan's two major Korean associations. Hirakata has no particular Korean neighborhoods. There were about 3,000 ethnic Koreans in Hirakata in the pre-
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
period. In the 1930s Hirakata Koreans, fearful of keeping their own jobs, had negative attitudes towards Osaka-based Koreans who were looking for employment after having lost their jobs. Military construction was the most common job sector of that era's Korean population. Eriko Aoki stated that in 2013 there was still a sense of difference between the Koreans in Hirakata and the Koreans in Osaka.


History

The area of the modern city of Hirakata was within ancient Kawachi Province. The place name of "Hirakata" is very old, appearing in the '' Kojiki'', '' Nihon Shoki'' and other ancient texts. During the
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...
, the early Buddhist temple of Kudara-dera indicates the settlement of many immigrants from
Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...
in the
Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
from an early time. During the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
, the hills from Katano to part of Hirakata were called "Katano ga Hara" and were a hunting ground for the imperial family and were famous for cherry blossoms. The Osaka Kaidō, an extension of the Tōkaidō highway passed through the area, and in the
Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
Hirakata-juku developed as a post station on the highway and a river port on the Yodo River. The Hirakata Town was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Hirakata was elevated to city status on August 1, 1947. On April 1, 2001, Hirakata was designated as a special city of Japan. On April 1, 2014, Hirakata became a Core city with increased local autonomy.


Government

Hirakata has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
city council of 32 members. Hirakata, together with neighboring Katano, contributes four members to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Osaka 11th district of the
lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...
of the
Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...
.


Mayors

* Sōichirō Terashima (in office 1947 – 1955, 1959 – 1967) former mayor of Hirakata-chō * Harufumi Hatakeyama (1955–1959) * Tomizō Yamamura (1967–1975) * Kazuo Kitamaki (1975–1991) * Kazuo Ōshio (1991–1995) * Hiroshi Nakatsuka (1995–2007) * Osamu Takeuchi (2007–2015) * Takashi Fushimi (2015–present)


Economy

Hirakata's modern industry began with the munitions industry supplying to the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
and numerous civilian textile and clothing manufacturers. In early March 1939, a site associated with the arms industry blew up, killing 500 people. In the post-war era, the former munitions plants were transformed into
industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
s, or public housing complexes to support Hirakata's growth as a
commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for Osaka and Kyoto. Textile and clothing production remain major industries in Hirakata.


Companies with offices in Hirakata

* Komatsu Osaka plant * Sanyo Electric Co R&D


Education


Colleges and universities

* Kansai Gaidai University * Kansai Medical University *National Tax College * Osaka Dental University * Osaka International University * Osaka Institute of Technology * Setsunan University


Primary and secondary education

Hirakata has 45 public elementary schools and 19 public middle schools operated by the city government and six public high schools operated by the Osaka Prefectural Department of Education, and one by Osaka City. There is also one private elementary school, two private middle schools and three private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. Prefectural senior high schools * * * * * * Municipal high schools * – In Hirakata Private senior high schools: * * *


Transportation


Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...
Katamachi Line (Gakkentoshi Line) * - - Keihan Electric Railway - Keihan Main Line * - - - - - Keihan Electric Railway - Katano Line * - - -


Highway

* Second Keihan Highway * Daini Keihan Road (toll road) * * *


Internationl relations

* Shimanto, Kōchi, Japan, friendship city agreement since 1974 (with former Nakamura city) * Betsukai, Hokkaidō, Japan, friendship city agreement since 1987 * Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan, friendship city agreement since 1987 (with former Shionoe town) * Changning District, Shanghai, China, sister city agreement since 1987 * Logan City, Queensland, Australia, sister city agreement since 1995


Local attractions

* Hirakata Park, an amusement park that includes roller coasters made of wood. * Hirakata T-Site, containing a Tsutaya bookstore with high bookshelves. * Kudara-dera ruins * Kinyakurumazuka Kofun * Kuzuha Battery Site


Notable people from Hirakata

* Hikaru Nakamura,
Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...
chess player This list of chess players includes people who are primarily known as chess players and have an article on the English Wikipedia. A * Jacob Aagaard (Denmark, Scotland, born 1973) * Manuel Aaron (India, born 1935) * Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan, bor ...
* Janne Da Arc, Japanese visual kei rock band * Iori Kogawa, Japanese AV Idol * Koichiro Yoshinaga, Japanese former
Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
/
infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...
* Airi Shimizu, Japanese
gravure idol A model is a person with a Role (disambiguation), role either to display commercial product (business), products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an Model (art), artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in British and ...
, actress and variety '' tarento'' *
Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game designer and programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006. Naka joined Sega in 1984 and w ...
, Japanese video game programmer,
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
, and producer who made
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
* Satoshi Hashimoto, Japanese actor and voice actor * Nobukazu Takemura, Japanese musician and artist * Haruto Shirai, Japanese
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player * Kenji Honnami, former Japanese
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player * Yuki Kuniyoshi, professional Japanese baseball player * Junichi Okada, singer, actor and member of popular Japanese boy band V6 * Katsuhisa Inamori, former Japanese
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player * Midori,
Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...
violinist and
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
ian * Kenji Moriwaki, Japanese comedian and radio personality * Masahito Noto, Japanese
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player * Hirofumi Mukai, Japanese professional boxer * Yohei Takeda, Japanese
football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and goalkeeper * Hisaya Morishige, Japanese actor and
comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
* Yuji Hino, Japanese professional wrestler * Yuka Ishii, Japanese writer * Takayuki Fukumura, Japanese
football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
* Yoshimitsu Takashima, Japanese politician of the
Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...
, a member of the
House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...
in the Diet (national legislature) * Takumi Ozaki, member of INI (Japanese boy group) * Hono Tamura, member of Sakurazaka46 * Keiya Sento, Japanese
football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
, currently plays for Machida Zelvia


References


External links


Hirakata City official website

www.city.hirakata.osaka.jp.e.cu.hp.transer.com
{{Authority control Cities in Osaka Prefecture Korean communities in Japan